Don’t exhale just yet; it’s still midterms week. You’ve got plenty of time to log some study hours.

Follow the Northern Star through its weekly installment of the best study spaces on campus and around DeKalb to find a place to hunker down with your textbooks, spirals and thinking cap.

The Holmes Student Center is more than the tallest building in DeKalb and the hotel parents swarm for graduation; it’s one of the best places to study on campus.

HSC Director Mitch Kielb said the building offers many different kinds of environments for studying.

“There’s all kinds of places to study here,” Kielb said. “There’s no one perfect spot; everyone has a different preference.”

If the HSC didn’t close at midnight, you could probably live there. It has everything a crazed mid-term studier could need: food, comfortable couches and Wi-Fi Internet.

The HSC offers two computer labs and several study lounges, but it’s a large building with many rooms and hallways that provide secluded areas in which to study alone — if students can hunt them down.

“Sometimes people will sit in little nooks and crannies; just sit on benches where’s it’s quiet,” Kielb said.

When students need to collaborate, the tables in the carpeted Gallery lounge are perfect for working on group projects, Kielb said. The atmosphere is certainly ‘loungey:’ it’s partly lit by lamps, carpeted and artwork hangs on the walls. You might get to sit back on a couch and listen to live music if someone sits down to play the grand piano, like a visiting student did Wednesday afternoon.

Freshman geology major Lindsey Maurer said she enjoyed the studying soundtrack.

Maurer said she moves around to different locations in the HSC “for a change of scene,” but usually studies in the TV lounge.

Located on the East side of the building, the TV lounge offers small and large tables, different types of chairs, a TV and scenic views.

When your philosophy reading is more conducive to wistful staring out of a window than at a page, you can perch a top a high chair and look out over the MLK Commons or traffic along Normal Road.

Freshman undeclared major Julian Alicea said he often reads philosophy in the TV lounge.

“I can study for an hour or so then take a break and watch TV,” he said.

In the basement of the HSC, students can study and enjoy the convenience of a quick bite to eat.

The Blackhawk Food Court, Subway, Huskie’s Hub and Coffee Corner are all located downstairs.

If you’re feeling fancy, you can head back upstairs to eat in Ellington’s ballroom, where the School of Family, Consumer and Nutrition Sciences serves three-course luncheons on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the spring semester.

Jacob Jackson, sophomore mechanical engineering major, said he likes studying in the Center Cafe because it is convenient for buying lunch.

“I usually just come in here and eat lunch and study here for an hour or two before my next class,” he said.

Jackson also said he enjoys the Wi-Fi Internet access.

Kielb said most public spaces in the HSC offer Wi-Fi.

Gabriela Resendiz, junior family, consumer and nutrition sciences major, said she enjoys studying in the center booths near Coffee Corner in the HSC basement.

Resendiz likes the booths because they are comfortable and offer more privacy.

“Sometimes I’ll just lean back and relax,” she said. “It’s more closed; I feel comfortable leaving my stuff here if I go to the bathroom. It’s more secure.”

Resendiz said she can spend up to four hours, five days a week in her favorite study spot in the Center Cafe.

Kielb said all public spaces are open from 6 a.m. to midnight every day and the HSC is a popular place to study both during the day and at night.

“It’s very popular, very comfortable and it’s really easy for everybody to get to,” Kielb said.

The HSC is next to the Huskie Bus turnaround and centrally located on campus. When you’ve had it with studying, you won’t have a problem catching a ride back to your residence for some shut-eye before that big mid-term.